R. J. Jacobs returns following Always the First to Die with his latest thriller, THIS IS HOW WE END THINGS —a gripping, intelligent academia literary thriller of deception and suspense, following a group of graduate students at a prestigious North Carolina college exploring the psychology of lying, leading to MURDER.

Mystery Suspense Meets Clever Dark Academia Whodunit!

While the experiment is based on deception, someone among them is a killer in this locked-room suspense psychological thriller, full of twists and intrigue.

Set in the idyllic town of Forest, North Carolina, in the winter, we meet enigmatic Professor Joe Lyons at a prestigious college.

Five grad students are studying the art and science of lying. They are all hiding secrets. When one of them is discovered dead after an experiment, they are all looking at one another, now trapped by a snowstorm.

We hear from Scarlett, Robert, Chris, Britt, and Elizabeth. They all have their secrets and unique personalities. Joe also hires a new member, Veronica, a lawyer the team does not care for.

They all have been trained to lie, and this will make the investigation even more challenging. The detectives can pick up a trick or two. Detective Larson is tasked to solve and discover the buried secrets of all the liars with King.

Will they kill again? Who is lying, and who is capable of murder? Who is the perpetrator?

Do liars get better over time?

Cleverly written, THIS IS HOW WE END THINGS is a perfect whodunit for those readers who enjoy clever dark campus mysteries. It has a creepy setting and a cast of intriguingly secretive characters. Whom to trust?

Thought-provoking and razor-sharp, Jacobs keeps readers in suspense and guessing with red herrings, wicked mind games, and unexpected twists in this high-stakes, riveting, clever, dark, academic locked-room suspense psychological thriller!

Being a North Carolina native, I loved the references to the towns where I have lived and the claustrophobic winter snowy campus atmospheric setting. Excellent character development, and I enjoyed the psychology of lying—INTRIGUING, a fitting title! I cannot wait to see what comes next.

I had the privilege of reading the e-book and listening to the audiobook narrated by Chelsea Stephens for an engaging performance for all voices. Fans of authors Carol Goodman, Riley Sager, and David Bell will enjoy this one!

Stay tuned for my #AuthorElevatorSeries Interview, Elevator Ride with RJ on pub date— where we go behind the book & the author! (My blog)

Thanks to Sourcebooks Landmark for an ARC and HighBridge Audio for an ALC via Netgalley for my honest opinion.

Blog review posted @
JudithDCollins.com
@JudithDCollins | #JDCMustReadBooks
My Rating: 5 Stars
Pub Date: Sept 12, 2023
Sept 2023 Must-Read Books

Thank you for an advance copy of this thriller. It is set at a college university, where Professor Joe Lyons is doing research on the psychology of lying. With his research students they set off to explore what makes a person a liar until one ends up dead and the mystery begins. I loved the setting and the premise of exploring the psychology of lying. The plot was fairly obvious though to me and I figured out the culpirt fairly early. The chapters were also really long, but overall I enjoyed this academia based thriller/mystery.

Thank you NetGaley and Sourcebooks Landmark for th ARC! This is How We End Things by R.J. Jacobs follows six PhD students and their professor. When the book opens, the group is gaining a new member, Veronica, with a background in law, she'll be monitoring their study and seeing if their are any legal roadblocks to their research. Things get out of hand when one of the test subjects starts to get violent and puts the who test at risk. Tempers flare within the group and when one of them is disovered murdered, secrets begin to reveal themselves one by one. Who had reason to kill? Who can be trusted? This is How We End Things is a fun psyhologial crime novel with an academic setting, perfect for fans of dark academia with a focus on law enforcement based whodunnits.

Be sure to gather drinks and snacks before you sit down for this bingeable read. I tore through this at breakneck speed. It hooked me right from the beginning and the twists and turns did not let up. It is told through multiple points of view. There are a number of characters, but I had no issue following and keeping track of each. I loved the detailed descriptions of the storm racing in. Adding to the adrenalin to gather as much information before it hit. Leads to a locked room type of situation in this small college town.

There are a group of students and a professor diving deep into the psychology of lying. They trick people into doing experiments for them. Telling them they are in danger of getting kicked out of school. While they are in the experiment, they receive another call to tell them it was a mistake, they are in good standing. Either way it has their mind racing and are desperate to find a way out of this mess. When one such experiment sets off one of the students it is like a domino effect that leads to death. How can you really tell who is telling the truth and who is lying, when essentially, they are lying experts. Will the police find the truth?

I love a good academic setting, and this was it. The buildup and the suspense were spot on. The killer is not who you think it is. I was second guessing myself the entire way through. The clue is in the title! Thank you to R.J. Jacobs and Sourcebooks Landmark for this all-encompassing read.

Dark academia meets locked door mystery in R J Jacobs latest novel - This Is How We End Things.

Dr Joe Lyons and his graduate students are conducting an experiment for extra credit - and you too can be a part of it, just don’t trust anything they tell you. Like Milgram and Zimbardo before them, they’re pushing the envelope of psychological research (and of ethics as well), as they discover what drives you to lie. But when people start turning up dead on campus, and everyone has something to hide, Detective Larson will have to sift through the evidence quickly and find the killer before the blizzard of the century locks them all down, killer on the loose.

I absolutely loved this one! I’ve read all of R J Jacobs works and I think this may be my favorite to date. As someone with a psychology degree, the experiment aspect was so fun to read (and as a former research assistant, the absolute bonkers ethics behind it was such a fun element too!) I really enjoyed the subtle references to landmark psych studies and a mention of Rear Window - just fun elements in the plot.

I read this one in under a day - the story takes place over half a week, and even though it’s only 11 chapters, the plot moves quickly while balancing enough details to keep you well informed but only informed enough until the next plot reveal. The multiple POVs within the chapter help set the fast pace knowledge drop as well - and when the action heats up, keeps you on your toes. I truly loved this one - easily a five star read for me. I can’t wait to see what R J Jacobs has in store for us next.

This book reminded me of "If We Were Villians" by M. L. Rio, but with psychology students instead of actors.

Thank you to Sourcebooks for letting me read this one early. This one publishes September 12.

I really couldn't get into this one. When the whole premise of the book is everyone is unreliable it kind of doesn't feel worth it.

This is How We End Things by R.J. Jacobs is a highly recommended locked room mystery.

A disparate group of graduate students at Dorrance University in Forest, North Carolina are conducting experiments on the psychology of lying and deception. Their methods are questionable, which is clear when their current test goes awry. However, it becomes deadly when, as the grad students are working at night in the psychology department building on the campus which is closed for a break, one of them is subsequently found murdered in the office of the chair of the psychology department, Joe Lyons, the next morning.

As a major snow storm rolls in, Detective Alana Larson is assigned to the case. The group of suspects is obvious. The key is to figure out who did it among a group of suspects who are experts in the science of deception.

This was an interesting closed-room mystery and following the investigation into the group of suspects is entertaining. The pacing is even and which keep the action moving. The tension rises incrementally as it is apparent that the danger is still present.

All of the characters are depicted as unique, realistic individuals and it is easy to keep in mind each of them as the investigation is underway and action unfolds through their different points-of-view. The culprit was rather easy to figure out, but the enjoyment is in the hunt and the deep-dive into the characters.

It was interesting to see a popular meme included as dialogue between characters and a viral story written into a character's development. Sort of a hat-tip to authors finding words and events around them to write into their novels.
Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of Sourcebooks via NetGalley.
The review will be published on Barnes & Noble, X, Edelweiss, and Amazon.

I do love a campus thriller and that’s exactly what you get when you read this book. It’s a pretty fast read, but I was disappointed that I figured out the killer early in the book. The author tried to throw in all me red herrings but they didn’t really work for me.
Atmosphere was good and a little creepy. Lots of unlivable characters and some likable ones. All around fine just not stellar.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early copy in exchange for an honest opinion. 3⭐️

This story takes place at Hull Hall of Dorrance University's Psychology Department where a group of six graduate students are running an experiment that focuses on the study of dishonesty and the psychology of lying led by the famous professor Joe Lyons.
One day one of the six members is found dead at the professor's office and anyone one of them could be the killer? However, coz they are well trained on the art of deception founding out who did is going to be a lot harder than anyone's expected.
As you could see the story has nice ring to it right? It is but unfortunately for me it fell flat and I DNF it. My reason were the chapters were super long coz the novel is only 11 chapter so u can imagine and I didn't like the characters and I couldn't feel them . The writing style also bored and confused me and they were more than 7 characters POVs so it was a lot.
However, don't let my opinion stops from picking it up what I didn't like might your best book yet.
Thank you to @negalley and the publisher for granting me an ARC of #ThisHowWeEndThings in exchange for my honest review.

Xoxo💋

A thriller centred around academics studying deceit and a murder mystery - I HAD to read this book!
The book is set on campus, there is an epic snowstorm and it’s deserted when the novel hits its crescendo so the setting gets 5 stars easily!
The group we focus on are all potentially hiding things and it’s hard to know who to trust.
There are psychological reports dotted throughout the novel for a change of pace, which I felt were well researched, this adds to the profile of the sociopath murderer we as readers are trying to identify.
The book keeps you guessing as to who done it and the pace is fast so you end up not being able to put the book down. This is exactly what you want from a thriller.
The ethics of the researchers are questionable. I would say that the characters themselves are not very likeable, this could be intentional and maybe if I reread now knowing who is the sociopath I may look at them differently.
Overall a good thriller that I think will be popular.
3.5 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for an E-ARC. This is a voluntary review of my own thoughts.

This is How We End Things is a book about deception. Joe Lyons is leading a psychological study where his team members must deceive other students to believing they are about to be expelled unless they get extra credit and pass their psychology class. Joe has trained his team well in the art of deception. However, one of his team mates ends up getting killed in the psychology building and the rest of his group are the prime suspects. How do you find the killer when the suspects are masters at lying?
I really liked the concept of this book, especially since I was a psychology major myself. I enjoyed going to other students’ psych experiments and hosting one myself. It brought back a lot of memories and made me nostalgic.
My biggest complaint would be that I didn’t feel like the characters had enough development. I didn’t feel connected to them, so I did not care what happened to any of them. The characters all just felt a bit surface level. It is especially true for who the killer was. I wish I got to know him/her better to understand why he or she committed the crimes that he/she did.
This book had a lot of tension and a lot of action-packed scenes. The ending of this book was so intense. I felt like I was watching a movie.
I would recommend this book to people who like books that take place at a school, that focuses on the criminal mind/psychology, and has a tight-knit group of suspects.
Thank you Netgalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Loved this book. This Is How We End Things is the perfect combination of everything I look for in a thriller.

Dark academia and locked in vibes made this one so fun and twisty.

Graduate students are doing experiments on unsuspecting students about lying. 😳 When one of them ends up dead in the professors office during a rare March snowstorm, they are all stuck on campus and most likely they are stuck with the killer!

Loved this one as each character has plenty of secrets to keep also!

This is my first book by this author but it def won’t be my last! Loved it and am so grateful for my early copy. What a great read!

Okay, so this one was all over the place. It read like a sequel, and I was really confused by all of the sidequests and murder-lites, if you will, distracting the reader with alternate plot lines that felt important at first, but never really resonated with anything dire. I am still really thankful to Highbridge Audio, R.J. Jacobs, Netgalley, and Sourcebooks for granting me advanced audio and digital access before this twisty thriller hits shelves on September 12, 2023.

This was a quick but underwhelming read, which is a shame, as I was had hoped the dark academia mystery premise would be up my alley. I struggle with ensemble cast stories with multiple POVs, and that narration style doesn't serve the story. Switching between characters so quickly in such a short book means that none of them feel particularly fleshed out. Each character's section gives just enough clues and red herrings to keep the plot moving, but then fleshes out weird points of their backstory instead of teasing out the dynamics of the group. I'd hoped for deeper characterization, given the story's focus on a group of social psychology students studying deception.

If I'd remembered the seemingly disconnected transcript excerpt at the beginning of the book, that would've quickly resolved the whodunit of the story, which was not at all satisfying. The book felt a little too packed with plot twists to serve the pacing of the story. Meh.

This was an enjoyable twisty read. It reads a bit like an academic secret society murder i investigation but the police procedural takes over about 25% in. It was slower to start and then kicked into gear after the second murder. I loved the multiple POVs.

I genuinely wasn’t sure how the twists were going to turn out, even though I had some theories throughout the book. I love the idea of secret societies - so when this psych group of phd students and teachers are running a secret experiment I knew this would be a fun read. I almost wanted a little bit more time spent on the basis of the experiment itself, but as I kept reading I realized that wasn’t really a big part of the plot.

The door definitely seems open for a second book. I will absolutely read more by this author.

Dark academia thrillers are my jam, especially when they're set in graduate school. Mix in a questionable psychological study, a mysterious string of murders, and a blizzard that completely shuts down this quiet college town, and it's a recipe for disaster. Each of the students have a secret and they're all going to shake out during this snowstorm. I didn't particularly like any of the characters and most of the secrets weren't devastating, which kind of took a bit of suspense out of the story. The chapters are long but the PoV shifts keep you engaged.

Did I predict the killer? Yes. But I still enjoyed the book overall and that says something.

*Thank you to Sourcebooks Landmark and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for my honest review*

The book opens with a group of psychology students conducting an experiment on dishonesty. They want to accomplish groundbreaking work, and take on an ‘ends justify the means’ mindset.

When one of the group is found dead, doubt and suspicion begin to grow among them.

The book moved slowly for me at first. The parts of the detective interviewing the students could have gone faster, though I did enjoy the character of detective Larson quite a bit. Definitely a badass who gets things done.

It amped up when the characters became aware of the large snow storm headed their way, and the group gathered in the building of the crime scene. Very atmospheric and one of my favourite locked room mystery tropes.

I enjoyed the parts where the main characters were grouped together the most. Seeing them interact with each other was the strongest part of the book for me.

A great choice for people who enjoy locked room mysteries, dark academia, and psychological thrillers.

Thank you to NetGalley for my advanced reader copy.

4.5 stars rounded up.

Whewww this was a fun ride! The unique premise of the storyline and the group of PhD students we follow had me hooked from the first chapter. I had a thought about who may have “done it”, alas I was Right however the HOW and WHY were so twisty and unpredictable it made up for it. The perfect book for late fall into winter. Thank you to NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Who did it? One of Professor Joe Lyons' students is dead and he, alongside Detective Larson, has a tough job figuring out who did it. And they are snowed in. Jacobs puts a new spin on the academic murder novel- the students were studying the psychology of lying and they're all experts. Or are they? You, like me, might figure this out before Lyons does but there's good atmospherics, interesting information about lying and perfectly detestable characters to keep you turning the pages. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. A good read- and no spoilers from me.